Mimi's Ghost Stories Oneshot : Mimi's Ghost Stories

Mimi’s Ghost Stories

Front Cover:
ミミの怪談
Mimi’s Ghost Stories

伊藤潤二
By Junji Itô

原作：木原浩勝　中山市郎
Based on Works By: Kihara Hirokatsu and Nakayama Ichirô

P2


P3


P4
TB: その日は雨模様で．．．
It was a rainy day.

Title: 電柱の上にいるもの
Atop the Electric Pole

SFX: ザーッ
shaaaaa (sound of downpour)

TB: ぐずぐずした天気であった
Altogether dreary.

SFX: グォォォォォォ
vrrrr

Mimi: なあ．．．あれなんやろ？
Hey. . . what is that thing?

Naoto: どないしたん？ミミ
What’samatter, Mimi?

Mimi: 変なものが見えへん？
Don’tcha see something weird up there?
Mimi: 電柱の上
On the electric pole.

P5
SFX: ザーッ
shaaaa

P6
Naoto: なんやあれは！？
The fuck--?!

Mimi: いややわ　気味悪い！！
Oh my god, it’s freaky!!

SFX: ドン！
WHUD!

Mimi and Naoto: !!

P7
SFX: バン
whap

Mimi: キャアアアア
Kyaaah!

SFX: キキッ
screeeech

TB: 二人が再び見た時には老婆は忽然と姿を消し
When we looked, the old woman was gone.
TB: 電柱のてっぺんのもやもやも無くなっていた．．．．．．
The wavy figure atop the electric pole was nowhere to be found.

SFX: ザー
shaaaaa

P8
Red text: ミミの怪談
Mimi’s Ghost Stories

Black text: 伊藤潤二
By Junji Itô
原作：木原浩勝　中山市郎
Based on Works By: Kihara Hirokatsu and Nakayama Ichirô

P9
Text: 目次
Contents
５　となりの女
The Woman Next Door

３５　草音
The Sound of Grass

４５　墓相
Graveman

P10
８５　海岸
The Seashore

１１９　ふたりぼっち
Alone With You

１５３　朱の円
The Scarlet Circle

P11

P12
Title: 隣の女
The Woman Next Door


P13
TB: 私が住んでいるのは築４０年の文化住宅
The building I live in is a cultural relic built back 1966.
TB: その一階の一番端の部屋
My place is the innermost room on the first floor.
TB: このオンボロで壁の薄い部屋の目下の悩みは
It’s a rickety old place with thin walls, and there’s one thing about it that irks me to no end:
TB: 真上の住人のステレオの音
The stereo of the guy living right above me.

SFX: キュイ〜ンズババババ
JANG chicka jang jang boom boom boom boom

TB: 大家さんに訴えても効果なし
I even told the landlady about it--to no avail.

Mimi: んもう！
Oh, come on!!

SFX: ズンズンスキューン
KERRRRRRANNNNG
Mimi: うるさくて勉強でけへんやんか！！
Um, it’s really hard for me to study when you’re being noisy as hell!!

SFX: ズキュズキュ
KRRRANG chicka chicka KRRRRANG
SFX: カンカンカン
STOMP STOMP STOMP


P14
SFX: ズンズンズババババ
BOOM BAP BOOM BOOM BAP

Mimi: もしもし！！
HELLOOO?!
Mimi: ちょっと！！開けてください
Open up in there, will ya?!
Mimi: もしもーし！！
HELLOOO?!

SFX: ドンドン
BAM BAM
SFX: カチャッ
click
SFX: ズババ
BOOM BOOM BAP
SFX: ギイイイイ
creeeeak
SFX: ズンチャンズズズン
BOOM BOOM CRASH

Mimi: あの〜〜〜　ステレオの音もっと小そうしてもらえません？
Um, hi! Would you please, like, I dunno, LOWER THE VOLUME?!
Mimi: 以前からうるそうて仕方ないんですけど
You always have it unbearably loud!

Neighbor: えっ．．．そうかなあ？．．．．．．
Uhh. . . I do?
Neighbor: そんな大きい音出してませんよ
I don’t think it’s so loud.

Mimi: お．．．．．．大きいやん
Y. . . Yes, it is.
Mimi: 近所迷惑やないの！！
You’re disturbing the peace!!

SFX: ズバババ
BOOM BOOM BAP


P15
Neighbor: そやけど隣の人は何も文句言うてけえへんし．．．．．
The next door neighbor ain’t said nothin’ yet.
Neighbor: お宅が神経質なだけやないすか？
Maybe you’re just too uptight.

SFX: ズバババ
BOOM BOOM BAP

Mimi: な．．．．．
The f--. . .
Mimi: なんちゅう失礼な．．．．．．
What an asshole.

Neighbor: 隣の人がうるさい言うんやったら俺も考えるで
If the neighbor says it’s too loud I’ll think about it.

Mimi: ．．．．．わかりましたよ！！
Got it!
Mimi: ちょっと待ってて下さいよ
You wait right there.
Mimi: すみません！！
Excuse me!!

SFX: コンコン
knock knock

Mimi: 隣の方いらっしゃいます？！
Are you home?!
Mimi: すみません！！
Excuse me!!
Mimi: お留守ですか！？
Anybody there now?!

Neighbor: 留守ちゃいますか？
Prolly not home, right?
Neighbor: 隣はいつもひっそりしてるしねえ．．．．．．．
That neighbor’s kinda off the radar all the time.

P16
Mimi: ．．．いつもひっそりて．．．．．
. . . off the. . .
Mimi: もしかして空き部屋とちゃいます？！
Are you sure it’s not just an empty room?!
Mimi: 空き部屋やったら誰も文句言うてくるわけないやないですか！？
Of course they ain’t complained if nobody lives here!!
Mimi: バカにせんといて下さい！！
Don’t mess with me, sir, okay?!

Neighbor: 空き部屋ちゃう思うで
I don’t think it’s empty.
Neighbor: たまに玄関開け閉めする音聞こえるし
Sometimes I can hear the door opening and closing.
Neighbor: せやけど今日は気配ないからね．．．．．
Doesn’t seem like anyone’s around today, though. . .
Neighbor: あ．．．まあ気配がないのはいつもの事か．．．．．．
‘Course, I guess it never seems like anyone’s around, if you know what I mean.

SFX: ガチャッ
chicka

Mimi and Neighbor: !

SFX: ギイイイイ
creeeeak

P17
SFX: コッ
clop
SFX: コッコッ
clop clop
SFX: コッコッコッ
clop clop clop

P18
Neighbor: なんや．．．．．．．隣おったんか．．．．．．
The hell? She was home?
Neighbor: そやけど妙な女やったな．．．．初めて見るけど．．．．．
Pretty freaky-lookin’, too. That’s the first time I ever seen her.
Neighbor: 全身黒ずくめかいな．．．．
Why all the black?

Other neighbor: お宅どないしたん？
Somethin’ the matter?
ON: ケンカやったらよそでしてくれる？
If you’re gonna fight, do it somewhere else, please.

Mimi: あっ．．．．すみません．．．．
Oh. . . . Sorry.

SFX: バタン
slam

Mimi: あっ．．．でもおばさんちょっと聞いてください
But hey, can I please ask you something?
Mimi: 私　下の階に住んでるものなんですけど．．．．．
You see, I live downstairs. . . .
Mimi: あっちの端の騒音がひどくて．．．．．
The noise coming from that room on the end is awful, and. . .
Mimi: おばさんは気になりません？．．．．．
Well, I was wondering if it bothers you, too.

ON: ．．．．．．まあ少しは聞こえてくるけど私は部屋が離れてるからね
Well. . . I mean, I can hear it a little bit, but our rooms are separated, y’know?
ON: 隣の人に聞いたらどう？
Why don’t you ask his next door neighbor?

P19
Mimi: 隣の人今　外出しやはったんですよ
She just left somewhere.

ON: 中にまだ誰かいてはるんとちゃう？
Isn’t someone else still there?

Mimi: えっ？
Huh?

ON: あの部屋には女の人が２〜３人住んではると思うわ
I’m pretty sure two or three women are living there.
ON: 多分姉妹やと思うけど
Probably sisters, I figure.
ON: それが変な姉妹やねん．．．．
Strange sisters, at that.
ON: 背格好は違うねんけどいつ見てもみんな全身黒ずくめやね．．．．．おまけに出会うても誰も挨拶せえへんし感じ悪いわ
They all have different figures, but they all dress completely in black. Plus they never say hello or anything when I see them. They’re very unfriendly.

Mimi: はあ．．．．
Sigh. . .
Mimi: そら確かに妙な女の人やったけど．．．．
That is weird and all. . .
Mimi: でもそんなことより私の騒音問題はどないなってん？
But what about the noise issue?

P20
TB: ．．．．ところがしばらくして上の部屋からの騒音がピタリと止んだ．．．
But after awhile, all the ruckus from upstairs came to an abrupt stop.

Mimi: ．．．．どないしたんやろ？あんだけ何言うてもきかへんかったのに．．．．
. . . . So what happened? After how stubborn that guy was?
Mimi: ．．．．まあええか．．．．これでやっと勉強できるわ
Whatever. Now I can finally do some studying.

P21
Mimi: あ．．．．あの男や．．．．何しとんあんな所で．．．．
Whoa, it’s that guy. What’s he doin’ over there?
Mimi: まさか．．．．のぞき？
He’s not. . . peeping, is he??
Mimi: ちょっとあんた！！そこで何してんの？！
Hey, you!! Whatcha doin’ over there?!

Neighbor: な．．．．．なんや君かいな．．．．
Wh. . . Oh, it’s you.
Neighbor: びっくりさせんなや．．．．
Don’t sneak up on me like that.

Mimi: ．．．．．どないしたん？顔色悪いけど．．．
What’s wrong with you? You look awful.

Neighbor: ．．．．あのな．．．．ちょっと聞いてええか？．．．．
Um. . . can I ask you somethin’?

Mimi: 何？．．．．
Huh?

P22
Neighbor: ．．．．俺の隣の部屋のあの黒ずくめの女ら．．．．
Know those ladies next door to me?
Neighbor: あいつら一体何者なんや？．．．．．
What’s up with those ladies?

Mimi: ．．．．何者って言われても．．．．
Uh. . . I dunno.
Mimi: 私　なんにも知らへんし．．．．．
I don’t know anything about ‘em.

Neighbor: ．．．．考えてみたらおかしいやんな．．．．あの部屋で何人で住んどんのか知らんけど．．．．
It’s weird, if you think about it. I dunno how many people live there, but. . .
Neighbor: 物音ひとつせえへんねんで．．．．このボロい文化住宅の薄い壁や．．．普通やったらお互いの話し声とか生活の音が聞こえるはずやろ．．．．それが何ひとつ．．．．
They never make a single sound. You should be able to hear them talking and moving around all the time in this crappy ol’ building with the thin walls ‘n all. . . .
Neighbor: それで．．．．気持ち悪なってな．．．．
It’s freakin’ me out.
Neighbor: はっ
Ah!


P23
SFX: スッ
fwip

P24
Mimi: ．．．．

Neighbor: 何者や．．．．
Who. . .
Neighbor: あいつら一体何者なんや．．．．
Who the hell are they?
Neighbor: あいつら．．．．俺の隣の部屋で一体どんな生活してんねん．．．．
Just what kinds of things are they doing next door?
Neighbor: あの薄い壁の向こうで物音一つたてんと一体何を．．．．
What the hell are they doing that not a single sound leaks through those walls?


TB: ．．．．その日の夜の事だ
That night. . . .

SFX: ギャッ
Gyah!

TB: 上の部屋から突然あの男の短い悲鳴が聞こえたかと思うと．．．．
It sounded like the sudden scream of the guy upstairs.
TB: 翌日になって男は逃げるようにどこかへ引っ越して行ってしまった
And then sure enough, the next day, he moved out. Like he was trying to escape.

SFX: ブロロロロ
vrrrrr

P25
TB: あの男がなぜ急に引っ越して行ってしまったのか気になったが
It really bothered me that he’d just run off like that.
TB: 私は大家さんに頼んで空いたその部屋に移る事にした
But I asked the landlady to let me move into his room.
TB: あの黒ずくめの女性達の隣になるのは少し気味悪かったけど
It was a little creepy knowing those women in black would be right next door.
TB: 一階より二階の方が静かだと思ったからだ
But I figured the second floor would be quieter than the first.

Naoto: 結構重いで気いつけや
Careful, this thing’s pretty heavy.
Naoto: ミミこの棚が最後やで
Mimi, this shelf is the last of it, right?

Mimi: うん　ありがとう直人に田中さん
Yup. Thanks, you guys.
Mimi: ホンマ助かったわー
You’re both really a big help.
Mimi: 下の部屋掃除したらお茶にするね
Let me go clean up downstairs and then we’ll have a snack.

SFX: バン
thwok

P26
SFX: ドサッ
fwop
SFX: ゴロゴロ
roll roll

Mimi: あっ！！すみません
Oh, I’m so sorry!!
Mimi: 今　拾いますから！！
I’ll get those for you!!

SFX: スッ
fwip

Mimi: あっ
Hey
Mimi: あ．．．．あの
Uh. . . um. . .
Mimi: これ！！
What about these?!

SFX: ガチャッ
k-chak

Mimi: ちょっと！！
Hey, wait!!

SFX: ガッ
grab

P27
Mimi: あっ
Whoa.

SFX: バシッ
whap
SFX: バタン
slam

P28
Naoto: 何やて？手首が薄い金属の板？
Say what? Her wrist was a metal slat?

Mimi: しっ！！大きい声出さんといて
Shh!! Not so loud!

Tanaka: 義手かな？
A prosthetic, maybe?

Naoto: あほな．．．．そんな板一枚だけの義手なんかないやろ
Nobody makes prosthetic arms out of a single slat of metal, idiot.

Mimi: それに義手にしては手はしっかりノブをつかんでたで
Her grip on the doorknob seemed too firm for a prosthetic, too.

Naoto: ブレスレットでもしてたんちゃうか
You sure she wasn’t just wearing a bracelet?
Naoto: とっさの事で見間違えたんちゃうか？
Maybe your eyes just played a trick on you ‘cuz it happened so fast.

Mimi: えっ．．．．
I. . .
Mimi: そやろか．．．
I guess, maybe. . .

P29
Mimi: ．．．．ホンマに隣物音せえへんわ．．．．一体どんな生活してんねやろ．．．
They really don’t make any noise. What kind of lifestyle are they living over then?
Mimi: あれっ．．．
Hey. . . .
Mimi: あんな所に穴が．．．．
There’s a hole over there. . .
Mimi: 何で穴開いてんねんやろ？．．．．
I wonder how this got here.
Mimi: それにわりと新しい穴やな
It looks like it was just made recently.
Mimi: あの男が開けたんかな．．．．
Maybe that guy did it.

P30
SFX: キリキリキリ
screw screw screw
SFX: ボトッボトッ
ponk ponk
SFX: ボトッ
grab

P31
SFX: スルスル
slide slide

Mimi: ？！

Black lady: クックックッ
keekeekee

P32
SFX: スッ
scrtch
SFX: サッ
shwip
SFX: キリキリキリキリ
screwscrewscrewscrewscrew
SFX: スルスルスル
slide slide slide

Mimi: ひゃっ！！
Ah!

P33
Mimi: はっ
Wah!
Mimi: ．．．．
Mimi: ギャッ！！
Gyah!!

P34
SFX: ゴリゴリ
scrtch scrtch

Mimi: ！？

SFX: ゴリゴリゴリゴリッ
scrtch scrtch scrtch
SFX: ゴリッ
scrtch
SFX: ゴリゴリッ
SCRTCH SCRTCH

P35
Mimi: ギャアアア
GYAAAAH!!

SFX: ゴリッゴリッ
scrtch scrtch
SFX: ゴリッ
scrtch
SFX: シュッ
SWOOSH

Mimi: キャア
Wah!

SFX: ドン
bam
SFX: シュッシュッ
WHOOSH WHOOSH

P36
SFX: ゴッ　ゴリッ　ゴリッ
scrtch scrtch scrtch
SFX: ゴリッ
scrtch
SFX: スッ
shwip

Mimi: な．．．．何なんあの女．．．．．
Wh. . . what is she?
Mimi: 一体何者やねん？
What in the hell is she?
Mimi: あの手足は何で．．．．
Those limbs. . .
Mimi: 伸び縮みすんねん．．．．
Why do they extend and contract like that?
Mimi: もしかして．．．．私らが見てた背丈の違う数人の女いうんは．．．．
Does this mean all those women with the different figures were. . .
Mimi: 実はひとりの女やったんか！？
. . . actually the same woman?

P37
Mimi: うんせ
Oof
Mimi: うんせ
Oof
Mimi: うんせ
Oof

SFX: ズッ　ズッ
scritch scritch

Mimi: ふぅ．．．．
Urgh
Mimi: とりあえずこれでよし．．．．
That’ll do for now.
Mimi: はっ
Wah

SFX: ギイイイイ
creeeeeak
SFX: バタン
slam

Mimi: 玄関から廊下に出た．．．．
She went into the hallway.

SFX: コツコツコツ
clop clop clop

P38
SFX: コッ．．．コッ．．．コッ
clop. . . clop. . . clop

Mimi: だっ．．．大丈夫や．．．うちの玄関はしっかり鍵をしてあるし．．．
It’s. . . it’s okay. The door’s locked.
Mimi: 入って来られへん．．．．
She can’t get in.

SFX: コッコッ
clop clop
SFX: カンカンカンカン
clang clang clang clang

Mimi: ．．．．よかった．．．．階段を下りて行く．．．．
Oh, good. She went downstairs.
Mimi: ホッ
Phew
Mimi: ．．．．もう行ってしもたかな？
. . . Did she leave?

SFX: ガラッ
slide

P39


P40
Mimi: キャッ
Wah!

SFX: ガッ
WHAM
SFX: ガッ　ガッ
clunk clunk

P41
SFX: ズルッ
swip

Black lady: クックッ
keekee
Black lady: クックッ
keekeekee

Mimi: キャアアァ
KYAAAAH!

TB: 私はそのまま気を失った．．．．
And then I passed out.
TB: 隣の女はその後も何食わぬ様子で隣に住み続けている．．．．
The woman continued to reside next door, as if nothing had even happened.
TB: 私は近いうちにこのつんか住宅を引き払うつもりだ
I’m planning to check out of this old place someday soon.

SFX: コッコッコッコッ
clop clop clop clop

P42
Title: 草音
The Sound of Grass

P43
Mimi: ふn〜〜〜
Ahhh
Mimi: ああ〜〜〜気持ちいい〜〜〜
Ooh-whee@ Feels great out here!
Mimi: 早朝の散歩もたまにはええなあ直人
It’s nice to go for these early morning walks once in awhile, eh Naoto?

Naoto: そうやろ？おまけに周りは森林や
I know, right? Plus, we’re surrounded by forest.
Naoto: マイナスイオンが体にええで！！
These minus ions’ll do a body good!!
Naoto: ミミ！！
Mimi!!
Naoto: 好きやで！！
You know, I’m crazy about you!!

Mimi: 何やのいきなり
What’re you talkin’ about all of a sudden?

Naoto: 何やのってあいそないなあせっかく人けのない林におるのに．．．
Oh, come on. We’ve got this whole forest to ourselves, so. . .

Mimi: やらしいわ何考えとんねん
Ew, don’t be gross.

SFX: ドサッ
SHA-WUMP

Naoto: はっ
Whoa.

P44
Mimi: 今．．．．音したなあ？
You heard that?

Naoto: うん．．．．何かが草むらに落ちたような音やったけど
Yeah. . . . Sounded like something fell in the grass.
Naoto: この辺に実のなる気はないけどな
None of the trees around here produce fruit, though. . . .
Naoto: さては早朝の草むらで恋人同士がいちゃついとるんと違うか？
Maybe a coupla star-crossed lovers, out for an early morning make-out session?
Naoto: ちょっと見てきたろ
Let’s have a li’l looksee.

Mimi: 直人！！やめときいな
Naoto!! Cut it out!

Naoto: わっ
Whoa!

Mimi: どないしたん？直人
What? Naoto, what happened?

SFX: わなわな
[hmm]

P45
Mimi: あっ
Ah!
Mimi: く．．．．
She’s. . . .

Naoto: 首吊っとる．．．．
It’s a hanging

P46
Naoto: 助けな！！
We have to save her!

SFX: ザザ
shf shf

Mimi: 助かるやろか？
You think we still can?

Naoto: い．．．いや．．．あかんな．．．もうだいぶ時間が経っとる
N. . . . No, maybe not. Looks like she’s been here awhile.
Naoto: 臭うし．．．．
You can smell it.

P47
SFX: ポタッ　ポタッ
drip drip
SFX: ポタッ　ポタッ
drip drip

Mimi: ．．．．さっきの音パンプスが落ちた音やったんやな
So that sound just now was her shoe falling off.
Mimi: この人．．．．何で自殺なんかしたんやろ．．．
Why would she kill herself?

Naoto: ．．．．とにかく下ろさな．．．
Anyway, let’s get her down. . .
Naoto: 仏さんうかばれんで
Give her her last rites
Naoto: それにしても踏み台がないけど．．．．
Y’know, there’s nothing to stand on out here.
Naoto: この子どうやって首吊ったんやろ？
So how’d this girl hang herself anyway?

Mimi: 木に登ったんちゃう？
Climbed the tree, maybe?

Naoto: 登るゆうてもこんな木に登ったんか？
What, a tree like this?

P48
SFX: ドサッ
SHA-WUMP

Mimi and Naoto: !!

One of them: ．．．．今　何が落ちた音？
What fell this time?
One of them: ．．．落ちとるのは左のパンプスだけや．．．．
This left pump is the only thing on the ground.

SFX: ドサドサッ
SHA-WUMP SHA-WUMP

Both of them: わっ
Wah!

Naoto: 今　音がしたやん！！何かが落ちたのは間違いないで！！
You heard that, right?! Something definitely dropped!
Naoto: 草むらやしよく見たら何かあるんと違う？
Maybe if we look closer we’ll find something in all this grass.
Naoto: まさか．．．．体内の物が腐って？
Oh man. . . . You don’t think it’s stuff rotting out of her body, do you?

SFX: ポタッ　ポタッ
drip drip

Naoto: ．．．．何も見あたらんで
I don’t see anything, though.
Naoto: ？

P49
Naoto: わっ
WHOA!

P50
Naoto: ．．．．いつの間にこっち向いたんやろ．．．．．？
Since when was she facing us?

Mimi: し．．．知らん．．．．．ロープがよじれてて．．．．ゆっくり回転したんと違うか？
. . I’m not sure. Maybe the rope twisted and. . . maybe it turned her this way?


Naoto: と．．．とにかく俺達には手に負えんわ
Uh. . . anyway, this is out of our hands.
Naoto: 警察に連絡や
Let’s call the police.

SFX: ボトッ
SHPLORT
SFX: ボトボトボトボト
SHPLORT SHPLORT SHPLORT

P51
TB: 私達の目前で確かに何か塊の様な物が大量に下草に落ちた
Right before our eyes, clumps of something began spilling out of her, into the grass below.
TB: しかし．．．．地面には何も落ちてなかった
However. . . on the ground, we found nothing.

SFX: ボトボト
SPLORCH SPLORCH

Both of them: わあっ
WAHHH!!!

TB: 一体　あの首つり死体は何だったのだろう？．．．．．彼女の体から大量に落ちたように見えたものは何だったのか．．．．
Just what was the story behind that hanging corpse? And what was that stuff spilling out of her in such great quantities?
TB: 私達は逃げながら何度も後ろをふり返った
As we ran for it, we looked back again and again.
TB: 首吊り死体はその間　ずっと私達の方に体を向けていた
That whole time, the hanging corpse never turned its face away from us.

P52
Title: 墓相
Graveman

P53
TB: 私が最近引っ越したアパートは
I recently moved into a different apartment.
TB: 築２年の２DKベランダは南向き一階の部屋でも日あたり良行
It’s a 2DK built in 1990. It’s got its own veranda facing South and gets good sunlight even though it’s on the first floor.
TB: それでもわりと家賃が安いのは多分．．．．
Even so, rent is pretty cheap. And I think I know why. . .

SFX: ガラッ
k-shunk

TB: ベランダの向こうが．．．．
Across from the veranda. . .
TB: 一面の墓場だからだ
. . . it’s a sea of graves.

P54


P55
Mimi: 家賃安いからここに決めたんはええけど．．．．
I’m glad I picked this place ‘cuz it’s cheap ‘n all.
Mimi: やっぱ気味悪いなあ．．．．
But it really is creepy.

SFX: ピンポーン
ding-dong

MImi: 直人いらっしゃい
Welcome to my place, Naoto.

Naoto: ミミ墓場アパートを見に来たでえ
So this is the famous graveyard place, eh Mimi?
Naoto: しかしお前も物好きやなこんな所に引っ越してきてからに
Sure are a quirky girl, moving into a place like this.

Mimi: それにしてもうら寂しい墓地やな
Pretty lonely graveyard, eh?

P56
Mimi: 人もほとんど来いへんし．．．
Almost nobody ever comes here.
Mimi: 無縁仏も多いみたいやで．．．
A lot of these graves don’t seem to be looked after.
Mimi: ．．．．なあ直人．．．．
Hey, Naoto?
Mimi: あれ何やろ？．．．前から気になっとったんやけど
Whaddaya think that is? I’ve been wondering for awhile.

Naoto: あっ．．．
Huh.
Naoto: あれ土饅頭とちゃうか？
Is it a burial mound, maybe?

Mimi: 土饅頭？．．．．何それ？．．．．
A burial mound? . . . What is that?

Naoto: 土葬した場合な．．．．ああやって土を盛り上げとくんや．．．．．
Well, when they bury people, they pile up the dirt like that.
Naoto: 死体が土になる頃盛り土が下がって平らになるんや
Then, by the time the body has decomposed, the ground’ll be leveled out again.

Mimi: ええっ．．．
No way. . .

P57
Mimi: ．．．つまりこの墓地が土葬っちゅう事？！
You mean this cemetery has burial plots?!
Mimi: 冗談やめてーな！！ここ一応都会やでェ
Quit trying to scare me! This is the city, y’know! [note: cremations are overwhelmingly more common than burials in Japan, and evidently cemeteries with buried bodies are considered scarier]

Naoto: うん　それもそうやな．．．今時土葬なんてあり得んわ．．．．
Hm, I guess you’re right. They wouldn’t be burying people here these days.

Naoto: 悪かったミミ気にすんなや
Sorry, Mimi, don’t even worry about it.


Mimi: ．．．．
Mimi: 気になるやんか．．．．
I cna’t stop thinking about it.
Mimi: ホンマに土葬やったらどないしょ．．．
I hope those aren’t really burial plots?

P58
SFX: ゴッ　ゴッ
SCRAAAAPE
SFX: ゴッ　ゴッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE
SFX: ゴリッ　ゴゴゴ
SCRATCH SCRAPE


Mimi: はっ
Huh?

SFX: ゴリッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE GRIND

Mimi: ．．．．何の音や？．．．．
What is that?

SFX: ゴゴッ
GRIND

P59
SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
GRIND GRIND
SFX: ゴゴッ　ゴッ
GRIND SCRAPE

Mimi: まっ暗で何も見えんわ
It’s way too dark to see anything.

SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE

P60
SFX: ガラッ
slide

Mimi: 何やったんやろ．．．
Really now. . .
Mimi: 昨夜の音．．．
What was all that noise last night?
Mimi: おはようございます
Good morning.

Muscle Man: あーどうも
Oh, howdy.
MM: おはようさん
Mornin’.

Mimi: あの　お隣さん昨夜　変な音聞きはらしませんでした？
Hey, um, did you hear any weird noises last night?

MM: えっ音？
Hm? Noises?

Mimi: はい　夜中に墓場の方から妙な音が．．．．
Yeah, these odd sounds coming from the cemetery in the middle of the night.

MM: さあ．．．．
Hmm. . .
MM: 僕は気いつかんかったけど
Sorry, guess I didn’t notice.

P61
Neighbor: まあ墓場やしイタチか何かが供物あさっとったんとちゃいます？．．．．
But it is a cemetery. Maybe a weasel was going through people’s offerings or something. [note: Japanese people often leave material offerings--including food--when they visit graves]

Mimi: ．．．．はあ．．．そうですやろか．．．．．
Oh. . . . Maybe, I guess.
Mimi: ．．．．ちゃうわ
No way.
Mimi: イタチなんかやない．．．．
It wasn’t just some weasel.
Mimi: ．．．．．
Mimi: ．．．．．あれ？．．．．．
What the?

P62
Mimi: 斜めになっとる．．．．
The headstone is crooked.
Mimi: こういう墓なんやろか？
Is it supposed to e like that?
Mimi: いや．．．．ちゃうわ
No, look. . .
Mimi: ずれた跡あるし
It’s all marked up where it’s been moved.
Mimi: ．．．．何で墓がずれとんねん．．．．
Why’s it like that?

SFX: ゴッ　ゴリッ
GRIND GRIND

Mimi: それ以来毎晩のようにあの音がした
After that, I started hearing those noises just about every night.

SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE

Mimi: もしかして．．．．
Is that. . .
Mimi: 墓石がずれる音？
. . . the sound of those gravestones turning?

P63
SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE

Mimi: ！
Mimi: ひ．．．．．．．
S. . .
Mimi: 人魂．．．．
Spirits. . . .

P64
Naoto: なんやて人魂？
Say what? Spirits?

Mimi: そうや
Yeah.

Naoto: ．．．．そうか．．．．それはきっと燐が燃えたんやで
Wow. Must’ve been burning phosphorous.

Mimi: リン？
Phos. . . phorous?

Naoto: 土葬やと死体から燐が発生してな
Buried bodies emit it.
Naoto: それが燃えて人魂と間違えられるそうや
Then it burns up and people mistake it for spirits.
Naoto: やっぱりこの墓は土葬やったんやなあ
So I gues those are burial plots after all.

Mimi: やな事言わんといてな！！
Don’t tell me stuff like that!

Naoto: ．．．．それで最近　窓のカーテン閉めきっとんのか．．．．
So that’s why you been keeping the curtains shut lately, huh?

Mimi: ．．．．カーテン閉めとってもいやーな感じするんよ
Even with ‘em shut, I get a real uneasy feeling here, Naoto.
Mimi: なんか外から誰かに見られとるような．．．．それも大勢の視線をかんじるんや
Like I’m being watched from outside. By hundreds of eyes.

P65
Mimi: で　恐る恐るカーテンの隙間から外見ても誰もおらへんねん
But nobody’s ever there when I peek through the curtains.

Naoto: そら気のせいやろ．．．．
I’m sure it’s all in your head.

Mimi: ．．．．でも墓石がずれとるのはほんまやで！！
But that headstone really was turned!!
Mimi: 嘘やと思うたら見て来てみ
Go see for yourself if you think I’m lying.

Naoto: ．．．ほんまや　確かにずれとる
Hey, you’re right, it is turned.
Naoto: ミミ．．．．あっちの墓見てみい
Mimi, check out that grave over there.
Naoto: 完全に上の石が反対方向を向いてしもてるで
The headstone has been flipped completely backwards.

P66
Naoto: あそこだけやない．．．．よう見るとあちこちで墓石が向きを変えとる
Not just there. If you look around, lots of graves are facing different directions.

Mimi: ．．．．やっぱりそうや夜な夜な墓石がずれとんのや
So I was right. Every night more and more graves are turning.
Mimi: きっと何かの祟りや．．．．
It’s gotta be a curse or something.

Naoto: アホか．．．．墓が勝手に動くわけないやろ誰かが動かしたんや！！
Um, are you serious? Graves don’t just move on their own. Somebody moved ‘em!
Naoto: そやけど誰がこんな沢山の墓石動かしたんや．．．．かなりの数やで
But who would move all these? There’s so many.
Naoto: ．．．．ミミ．．．．ちょっともういっぺんアパートに戻ってみよ
Mimi, let’s get back inside.

Mimi: えっどないしたん急に．．．．？
Huh? Why? What happened?

SFX: ジャッ
shwip

P67
Naoto: ．．．．ミミ．．．．この辺の墓．．．．みんなこっちを向いとるで
Mimi. . . every grave in the area is facing us.
Naoto: 以前こんな風やなかったやろ？
It wasn’t like this before, was it?

Mimi: ほ．．．．ほんまや．．．．気い付かなんだ．．．．
Oh my god, you’re right. I hadn’t noticed.
Mimi: 以前は向こうを向いとったはずや．．．．．
They were facing the other way before.

Naoto: ミミが感じた大勢の視線ちゅうのは．．．．
That’s probably why you’ve felt like you’re being watched.
Naoto: 墓石がこっち向いとったからかもしれんな．．．．
All these graves were faced towards you.

P68
Naoto: まあ気分の問題やけどな
It’s just a feeling though.

Mimi: いややわ．．．．何でこんな．．．．
Man, why is this. . . . ?

Naoto: おいミミ．．．
Mimi. . . .
Naoto: あれ隣の人か？
Is that your next door neighbor?

MM: ふん
Hup!

Mimi: ああそうや
Oh. Yeah.
Mimi: ようああやってトレーニングしてはるんや
He’s always out there working out.

Naoto: ふうん
Huh.

MM: はっ！！
Hurrr!

P69
Naoto: 今何時やミミ．．．．
Mimi, what time is it now?

Mimi: 午前２時．．．．．そろそろや
2 a.m. Should start any minute now.

SFX: ゴッ
SCRAPE

Naoto: ！

SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE
SFX: カチャッ
k-chick
SFX: ゴッ
GRIND
SFX: ゴッ　ゴリッ
GRIND GRIND
SFX: ボッ
GRIND

P70
SFX: ゴゴッ
GRIND GRIND
SFX: ゴッ
GRIND

Naoto: あっ．．．．人や！！
Hey, it’s a person!!
Naoto: 誰かおるで！！
Someone’s out there!!

P71
SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
GRIND GRIND SCRAPE

P72
Both of them: あっ
WHOA.

MM: ふん！！
HUR!!

Naoto: あれは隣の人やんか
That’s your neighbor.
Naoto: 犯人はあいつやったんか
So he’s been doing this.
Naoto: しかし何で．．．．
But, why?

MM: ふぅ〜〜〜
Phew. . .

P73
SFX: ガッ
tunk

MM: ふん！！
Hup!!

SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE
SFX: ガラッ
kshak

Naoto: おーーいあんた
Hey, you!
Naoto: そこで何してんねん！！
What’re you doin’ out there?

MM: ！！

P74
SFX: ガラッ
fwoop
SFX: ズドッ
shawump

Naoto: ん？
Hm?
Naoto: どないした！？．．．．見に行こ
What happened? Let’s go check it out.

Mimi: ．．．．

Naoto: この辺やったで
It was around here.
Naoto: あっ
Whoa.

P75


P76
Naoto: ．．．．土葬の穴に落ち込んだんや．．．．　おっさん大丈夫か？
He fell into an open grave. Hey, you all right, Mister?

MM: ウ．．．．
Ooo. . .
MM: ううむ
Urrr. . .
MM: わっ
Gah.

Naoto: ミミ．．．とにかく１１０番や
Mimi, let’s just call 911 [actually 110 in Japan]

TB: 間もなく警察がやって来て
The police arrived right away.
TB: 署で事情を聴くため男を連れて行った
They took the man back to the station for questioning.

P77
TB: 翌日　墓石の異変に気づいた人々が墓地に集まり
The next day, people gathered at the cemetery after realizing what had happened.

SFX: ワィワィ
grumble grumble
SFX: ガヤガヤ
fuss fuss

TB: 当然の騒ぎとなった
Obviously, no one was pleased.

Guy: 冗談やないでまったく北向きなんて縁起でもない
Can you believe this? Of all the directions, why’d he have to pick North? [note: North is considered generally inauspicious]
Guy: 早う元に戻さな
We better fix these quick.
Guy: 重っ！！
Damn it’s heavy!

TB: そんなわけで徐々に墓石は
And so, in time, the gravestones were returned.
TB: 元に戻されつつある
Back to their original positions.

Guy: クレーン代やら何やら
That jerk better compensate us.
Guy: その男にしっかり弁償させな空かんな
These cranes ain’t cheap!

Naoto: それにしてもあの男．．．．
I still don’t get it, though!
Naoto: 何の目的で墓石をずらしてたんやろな．．．．
Why was that guy moving all the graves?

P78
Mimi: まあそれもミステリーやけどな．．．．．
It’s a mystery, I guess.
Mimi: 私にとってはこの墓がほんまに土葬やったって事が驚きやわ
But I just can’t believe these are burial plots.
Mimi: こんな気味悪い所はすぐに引き払いたいけど
I wish I could ditch this place fast.
Mimi: もうお金ないしなあ．．．．
No money for that, though.

Naoto: まあ土葬ゆうたって死体が這い出してくるわけやなし
Well, it’s not like the corpses are gonna come crawling out of the ground.
Naoto: 人魂さえ気にせんかったらええんちゃうか？
You’ve just gotta get your mind off those spirits and you’ll be fine.

Mimi: 人魂も勘弁して欲しい和
I’d rather not deal with them altogether.

Naoto: ほな帰るでミミ
Well, I’ll see ya Mimi.
Naoto: うん　気いつけて帰ってな
Okay, take care getting home.

SFX: ガチャッ
k-cha

Naoto: あっ
Huh

P79
SFX: バタン
slam

Naoto: 隣の男もう帰って来たで
He’s back already.
Naoto: まあ墓石動かした位やったらたいした罪にならんのかな
Guess moving graves around is only worth a slap on the wrist.

MM: ふん！！
HURRR!!
MM: はっ
HAH!!

Mimi: あの男の声や．．．．．
It’s that guy.

MM: ふん！！
Hoo-hah!
MM: ふん！！
Hoo-hah!

P80
MM: はーっ
HURRR
MM: ？

Mimi: ！

MM: やあどうも昨夜はえらいすんまへんでした
Ah, hello! So sorry ‘bout last night.
MM: 警察にこってり叱られてきましたわ
Those officers sure gave me a talkin’ to.
MM: ．．．．しかしこうやって注目を浴びるのが
It’s just that I love basking all the attention.
MM: 私にはたまらn快感でしてな
It’s my ultimate pleasure.

Mimi: はあ．．．．注目って．．．．．？
The. . . attention?

MM: 墓石でんがな．．．．．ゆうたら霊ですわ．．．．
From the graves. . . . Well, from the ghosts, I should say.
MM: 霊に見られるゆうのはたまらん快感です
Being watched by all those ghosts is the ultimate ecstasy.

Mimi: ．．．．

MM: ふん！
HURRR!!

P81
SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE

Mimi: はっ
Huh?

SFX: ゴゴ．．．　ゴリッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE

Mimi: またや．．．．．
Again?
Mimi: また始まった
It never ends.

SFX: ゴッ　ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE GRIND

P82
MM: ふん！！
HURRR!!

P83
SFX: ゴッ　ゴリッ
SCRAPE GRIND

Mimi: あの隣の男．．．．また墓石を全部こっちに向けるつもりやな．．．．．
He’s gonna move all the graves so they’re facing us again.
Mimi: 全然懲りてないんやな．．．．
Hasn’t he learned a damn thing?
Mimi: ．．．．絶対異常やわ．．．．人魂が飛んどるやないの．．．．
This is so wrong. There’s spirits flying everywhere.
Mimi: そんな夜中の墓場で墓石を動かすなんて．．．．．
And this guy, shifting graves around in the middle of the night.
Mimi: しかもその目的が墓石に自分の体を見せつけるためやなんて．．．．正気やないで
And all so he can show off his body to them? He’s nuts.
Mimi: きっと寂しい人生送っとんねん．．．．
Must’ve lived a very lonely life up until now.
Mimi: 誰からも相手にされんから墓石を相手にしとんのや．．．．．
Nobody paid him any attention, so now he’s turned to these graves for it.

P84
MM: は〜〜〜〜っ
HURRR
MM: ふ〜〜〜〜っ
Phewww
SFX: ゴッ　ゴリッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE
SFX: ゴッ
SCRAPE
SFX: ゴッ
SCRAPE
SFX: ゴゴッ
SCR SCRAPE

P85
MM: ふん！！
HUP!!
SFX: ゴゴッ
SCRAPE SCRAPE
SFX: ゴッ
SCRAPE

P86
MM: ふ〜〜〜っ
Phewww

Mimi: ！

P87


P88


P89
Mimi: ひゃぁっ．．．．
Ahh!

SFX: ジャッ
k-sha
SFX: ガバッ
shwump

TB: 私は一晩中布団の中で震え続けた
I spent the rest of the night shivering under that blanket.
TB: 墓石は確かに私を見ていた
The graves really were watching me.
TB: 大勢の霊の視線．．．．．
So very many gazing eyes. . . .

P90
TB: 翌日隣の男は再び墓石を
動かしたという事で近隣の住民から抗議を受け
The next day, people in the neighborhood discovered he’d been moving the graves again, and they started to protest.
TB: さすがに住みにくくなったのか間もなくどこかへ越して行ってしまった
He couldn’t exactly stick around after that, and it wasn’t long before he moved away.
TB: その後男がどうしているかわからない
I’m not sure what happened to him after that.
TB: 彼は今もどこかの墓地で同じ事を繰り返しているのだろうか？
I wonder if he’s doing the same thing at some other cemetery.
TB: その後アパート裏の墓石は再び元に戻されていった
Afterwards, the graves behind that apartment building were all returned again to their original positions.
TB: ところが．．．．
However. . . .

P91
TB: 私のベランドの近くのいくつかの墓は手付かずのままだ
A few graves by my veranda were left untouched.
TB: どうやら無縁仏らしいのだ
It seems they weren’t being kept by anyone.
TB: そんなわけでいまだにそれはベランダ越しに
And so it is that they continue.
TB: 私の方に視線を向け続けているのだ
Gazing at me from across the veranda.

P92


P93


P94
Title: 海岸
The Seashore

P95
TB: この夏私は直人たちと海へ行ったのだが．．．．
Over the summer, I went to the bunch with Naoto and the gang.

Naoto: 着いたで
We’re here.

Tanaka: 久しぶりの海やなあ
We ain’t been to the beach in ages!

Naoto: おいみんな明るうなるまで仮眠や！よう寝とけや
Arright everybody, let’s get some shut-eye ‘til sun-up! Nighty-night.

Tanaka: おう！朝になったらサーフィンやでえ
Arright! When morning gets here, I’m ‘onna hang ten, dudes!

Furusawa: それよりナンパやナンパ！
I’m ‘onna bang ten dudettes, if ya know what I mean!

P96
Naoto: ミミお前もよう寝とけよ
Mimi, you better get some sleep too.
Naoto: ．．．．．どないしたんや元気ないな
You all right? You seem bummed.

Mimi: うん．．．．なんか気分悪うてな．．．
Yeah, I don’t feel good.
Mimi: またなんか怖いことが起きそうや
I feel like something terrible’s going to happen again.

Tanaka: なにゆうてんのミミちゃん真夏の海やで
Whattaya talkin’ about, Mimi? It’s summer! We’re at the beach!

Furusawa: そうやでなんもかも忘れて楽しもうや
Yeah man, just forget about that stuff and have fun.

Naoto: 田中と古澤の言う通りやで
They’re right, y’know.
Naoto: 怖いことなんか起きへんて
Nothing scary’s gonna happen.
Naoto: うん．．．．
Yeah, okay. . .

Guys: グー　グー
Zzz Zzz

P97
SFX: ビタッ　ビタッ　ビタッ
shplt shplt shplt
SFX: ビタッ　ビタッ
shplt shplt
SFX: ビタッ
shplt
SFX: ビタッ　ビタッ
shplt

P98
SFX: ビタッ
shplt
SFX: ビタッ　ビタッ
shplt shplt
SFX: ビタッ　ビタッ
shplt shplt
SFX: ビタッ　ビタッ
shplt shplt
SFX: ビタッ
shplt
SFX: ビタッ
shplt
SFX: ビタッ　ビタッ
shplt shplt

P99
SFX: ビタッ　ビタッ
shplt shplt

P100
Mimi: ちょ．．．ちょっと．．．．．
H. . . Hey. . .
Mimi: 直人！！
Naoto!!

Naoto: ん．．．
Hm?
Naoto: なんやムニャ．．．ムニャ．．．
Whaza. . . snrfn. . .

Mimi: おばけや．．．おばけが歩いてる．．．．．
There’s a monster out there. I saw it walking.

Naoto: なんやて？
Say what?

Mimi: ぐちゃぐちゃに体が腐った人が歩いてんねん！！
There’s a person walking around out there with his body rotting apart!
Mimi: ほらあそこ！！
Look, over there!!

Naoto: えっ．．．どこに？
Uh. . . where?

TB: しかしすでに道路の先に人影はなかった
But there was nothing to be seen down the road.

P101
Naoto: おーいミミ！！
Hey, Mimi!!
Naoto: なんや気温が低うて海に入る気せへんわ．．．．まだ気分悪いんかミミ？
Eh, it’s too cold to get in the water. You still feelin’ bad, Mimi?
Mimi: うん．．．．もう帰りたいわあんなモン見てもうたし
Uh-huh. I wanna go home now. After what I saw. . . .

P102
Naoto: お前なあ夢でも見たんやって．．．腐乱死体が歩くわけないやろ
I’m tellin’ you, you were just dreaming. Rotting corpses don’t just get up and walk around.

Mimi: ホンマに見たんやって！！
I really saw it, dammit!
Waitress: お客さん．．．．
I beg your pardon. . . .
Waitress: 見たんですか？
You say you saw one?
Waitress: 出るんですよ．．．．この海岸．．．．．
These things happen around this beach.
Waitress: この辺りはよく水死事故が起きますから．．．．．
There have been many fatal accidents in these waters, you see.
Waitress: 例えば．．．ほら　向こうにテトラポッドがあるでしょ？
For example, do you see those sea-jacks over there?
Waitress: あの底に引っかかっていまだに浮きあがってこない人もいるんです
There are people who got caught on them under the water and still haven’t surfaced.

P103
Waitress: そういう水の犠牲者が夜になると海岸へ上がってくるんです
When night falls, those lost to the sea rise up to shore.
Waitress: 現に私も何度も見てるんですよ
I’ve seen it many times.

Mimi: ほんなら．．．あのおばけは水死体の幽霊やったんや．．．．．．
So that monster I saw was the ghost of someone lost at sea?
Mimi: やっぱ夢やなかったんや！！
I know it wasn’t just a dream!

Waitress: それだけじゃないんですよ．．．．．この海岸には．．．．．．
And that’s not all. . . .
Waitress: たくさんの霊が彷徨っているんです
Many wraiths wander these shores.

Both of them: ．．．．．

Furusawa: おーい！！
Hey hey!!

Tanaka: ふたりともこんなところにおったんか
So this is where you guys’ve been hiding out.

Furusawa: 俺もなんか飲もうかな
I could go for a drink too.


P104
Furusawa: おい．．．あれバイトの娘か？
Hey, is that the waitress?

Naoto: ああ
Yuh-huh.

Furusawa: めっちゃ可愛いやん！！
Damn she’s fine!!
Furusawa: こらもうナンパするし家内で！！
How can I not hit on her?!

Naoto: やめとけって古澤
Give it up, man.
Naoto: あんな可愛い娘がお前なんか相手にするかいな
You really think you’re in the same league as a hottie like her?

Furusawa: そんなことわからへんやんか！！
Who’s to say, man?
Furusawa: よーし見とけ
Just you watch.
Furusawa: １時間以内にオトしたるさかい！！おい　田中も手伝え
I’ll have her bagged within the hour. Tanaka, come help a brotha.

Tanaka: なんでや．．．ひとりでやったらええやん
Um, what? Go alone, man.

Furusawa: ええから来いって
Dude, just come on!

P105
Naoto: なんや　あいつムキになりよって．．．それにナンパに１時間もかけるんかいおもろいやつ
What’s he gettin’ so worked up about? He’s really gonna spend a whole hour hitting on that chick? That’s rich.

Mimi: へえ　そうかああんな可愛い娘でも直人やったら５分でオトせるんやろなァ
Yeah, and to think, you could’ve “bagged” her in five minutes. Even if she is a “hottie”.

Naoto: ハッ！！なっ．．．なにゆうてんねん俺はナンパなんかせえへん！！
Wha?! Come on, you know I don’t flirt!

Mimi: ふん．．．．．どうやろなァ．．．．
Hmph. Sure ya don’t.

Naoto: なにふくれてるんやミミ
Mimi, what are you sulking about?
Naoto: それよりあいつら見てようやないか！！
More importantly, let’s watch this!
Naoto: どうせふられるに決まってる
You know he’s gonna get rejected.
Naoto: あれっ．．．どうなってんねやろ？
Whoa. . . . What’s goin’ on?
Naoto: けっこうええ感じやん．．．
By god, I think he’s onto something.

P106
SFX: ザザザザザ
FSSSSHHHH

Tanaka: いくで〜〜〜
Okay, here we go!
Tanaka: ハイチーズ！！
Say cheese!

SFX: カシャッ
k-chik

Tanaka: もう１枚！！
Let’s get one more!

SFX: カシャッ
k-chik

Furusawa: おい田中！！
Hey, Tanaka!!
Furusawa: 今度は俺と彼女のツーショット頼むわ
Get one of the two of us, if you don’t mind.

Naoto: こら　古澤　彼女は仕事中なんやで！！
Hey, furusawa, she’s still working.
Naoto: あんまり引き止めたら悪いやろ
You shouldn’t keep her distracted, man.

Waitress: いえ．．．いいんです．．．．
No. . . . It’s okay.
Waitress: 最近は気温が低くてお客さんも少ないから
We haven’t had many visitors recently on account of the cold.
Waitress: 私も暇をもてあましていたんです
I’ve got more than enough free time.

SFX: ザザザ
FSSSHHH

P107
Waitress: ．．．．．でも暇だと余計に色々なものが見えてくるから
But the less busy I am, the more I see things.
Waitress: それはそれで退屈しないけど．．．．．
So it certainly never gets boring.

Furusawa: 色々なもの？
“See things”?
Furusawa: なんなの？色々なものって
Like what? What things?

Waitress: この世のものではないものよ
Things not of this world.
Waitress: 私にはそれが見えるの
They’re visible to me.
Waitress: ．．．．．死後の世界は本当にあるのよ
There really is an afterlife, you know.
Waitress: 私はそれを知ってるの．．．．
I’m sure of that.

Mimi: ．．．．

Waitress: 特にこの海岸では過去にたくさんの人が命を落としている
So many people have lost their lives on this particular beach.
Waitress: 私にはそれらの死者の姿が見える．．．．．
I can see their dead figures.

P108
Waitress: ．．．サーファーもよく　ここで亡くなるんですよ
Many surfers die here as well.
Waitress: 皆さんも気をつけて下さいね
You all please be careful.
Waitress: 特に．．．
Especially you. . .
Waitress: 古澤さん．．．．．
Furusawa.
Waitress: あなた．．．．．気をつけた方がいいわ．．．．．
You’d better take extra care.
Waitress: 私には見えるの．．．．．あなたの周囲に．．．．．．
I can see. . . all around you. . . .

Furusawa: なに？
Say what?
Furusawa: 俺の周囲になにが見えるって？
What’s all around me?

Waitress: ．．．．．いえなんでもないわ
No. . . . It’s nothing.
Waitress: じゃあ．．．．．私はこれで失礼します
I’m sorry. I have to go now.

Furusawa: な．．．なんやあれ．．．
What was that all about?

Naoto: けったいな娘やな．．．．．．
You sure pick ‘em, man. . . .

P109
Naoto: 日が暮れたら余計　寒なってきよったな
It’s even colder now that the sun’s down.
Naoto: それにしてもさっきの娘可愛かったなあミミがやきもち焼いとったで
I tell ya though, man, that girl was smokin’. Mimi was so jealous.

Mimi: やめてぇな誰がやきもちなんて焼くかいな　．．．．なんや感じ悪い娘やったやん
Jealous of what? That girl was weird.

Naoto: おい　古澤お前さっきから元気ないやん
Hey man, you ain’t lookin’ too hot.
Naoto: まさか昼間のことでへこんどるんとちゃうやろな？お前　あの娘にからかわれたんやで気にすんな
Don’t tell me you’re bummed about this afternoon. That girl was just messing with you.

Furusawa: ちゃう．．．
No. . .
Furusawa: そうやないけどな．．．．．．．
It’s not that.

P110
Furusawa: なんや知らん．．．．．今日は疲れたわ
I dunno. . . . I’m just exhausted today.
Furusawa: 悪いけど先に寝るで．．．．．
Sorry, I’m gonna get to bed.

Naoto: なんや．．．．．あんな古澤見るの初めてや
Huh. . . . Never seen him like that before.

Tanaka: ホンマや．．．．．恋の病とちゃうやろか？
Seriously, dude. Guess he’s lovesick.

Mimi: ああ寒っ．．．なあ　直人私もそろそろ寝たいわ
Geez, it’s cold. Hey, Naoto, I’m gonna get to bed too.

Naoto: そうやな．．．ほんなら車に戻ろか
Yeah, all right, let’s go back to the car.

SFX: ガチャッ　バタン
k-chik slam

P111
SFX: ヒタ　ヒタ　ヒタ　ヒタ
tmp tmp tmp tmp
SFX: ヒタヒタヒタ
tmp tmp tmp

Naoto: あれ？あいつどないしたんやろ？
Huh? What happened?
Naoto: 便所にでも行くんかいな？
Toilet or somethin’?

SFX: ザッ　ザッ　ザッ
shf shf shf
SFX: ザザザ　バシャっ　バシャッ
FSSSHHHH splish splish
SFX: ザブン　ザブン
splorsh splorsh

Naoto: あっ．．．あいつなにしてんねん？！
The hell’s he doin’?
Naoto: 寝ぼけとんのか！？
Is he sleepwalking?!
Naoto: 古澤！！
Furusawa!!

P112
Naoto: おい　古澤なにしてんのや！？
Hey, what the hell are you doing, man?!
Naoto: 戻ってこい！！
Come back!!

SFX: ザブン　ザブン
SPLOOSH SPLOOSH
SFX: ザザザ
FSSSSHHHH

Naoto: 古澤！！
Furusawa!!
Naoto: 古澤寝ぼけんな！！
Furusawa, wake up!!

Furusawa: 離せ！！離せ！！
Let go of me!! Let go!!

Naoto: アホ死ぬ気かっ！？
Goddammit, are you tryin’ to get yourself killed?!

SFX: ザザザ
FSSSSHHH

Naoto: おい！！田中も手伝えっ！！
Hey Tanaka!! Gimme a hand!!

P113
Furusawa: さ．．．寒い．．．
C-c-cold. . . .
Furusawa: 寒い．．．．．
So cold. . . .

Mimi: 一体どないしたんや古澤くん？
What happened out there?

Furusawa: あ．．．あかんねや．．．行かなあかんねや．．．
God. I’ve gotta get out there.
Furusawa: ．．．．．俺頼まれたんや．．．．．．
She begged me. . . .

Naoto: 頼まれた？
Begged you?
Naoto: なにを頼まれたんや？
To do what?

Furusawa: お．．．お前らのところにも．．．
She came to you guys, too?
Furusawa: 保母さんが来たやろう．．．．．！？
The teacher?!

P114
Naoto: 保母さん．．．．？
Teacher. . . . ?
Naoto: 一体なんのことや？
What do you mean?

Furusawa: お前らなにを呑気なことを！！
This is serious, guys!!
Furusawa: あれを見てみい！！
Look, dammit!!
Furusawa: あそこに子供たちが大勢いてるやん！！
All those kids out there!!
Furusawa: 子供たちが大勢溺れとるやん!!
They’re drowning!!

P115


P116


P117
Tanaka: おい．．．なにか見えるか？
Hey. . . d’you guys see anything?

Naoto: いや．．．なにも．．．．
No. . . .

Furusawa: 今　車のところへ保母さんが助けを求めて来たんや！！
Just now, a teacher came to the car begging for help!!
Furusawa: 子供が溺れてるから助けて下さいって！！
She said the children are drowning!!
Furusawa: そしたら見てみ！！あんな大勢の子供が！！
And look!! There’s so many of them!
Furusawa: あっまた保母さんが呼んでる！！
Ahh! She’s calling me again!!

P118
Naoto: 古澤落ちつけ！！
Furusawa, calm down!!
Naoto: 誰もいてへんやんか！！
There’s nobody out there!

Furusawa: い．．．いてるやんか！！
W. . . what do you mean?!
Furusawa: お前ら　あれが見えんのか！？
Can’t you see that?!
Furusawa: あそこに桟橋があるやん！！．．．見てみい
Look out at the dock!!
Furusawa: あそこに大勢の子供の死体があがってるやろ．．．．．．
Don’t you see all those kids’ bodies floating up?

P119
Furusawa: 漁師のおじさんたちが子供の死体を引きあげてるやん！！
The fishermen keep pulling up more of ‘em!!

SFX: ザザザ
FSSSSHHH

Furusawa: 俺も保母さんに頼まれたんや！！
And the teacher begged me, too!!
Furusawa: 助けにいくんや！！
I’m going to save them!!

Naoto: いかん．．．古澤のやつ完全にイカレてる！！
Shit, he’s completely lost it.

Mimi: 古澤くんしっかりしてえな！！
Furusawa, get a hold of yourself, man!!

Furusawa: 離せ．．．離せちゅうねん！！
Get off! Get offa me!
Furusawa: 保母さんが呼んでるんや！！
She’s calling me!!

TB: 私たちは錯乱する古澤くんを車の中に押し込めると．．．
As Furusawa raved on, we stuffed him in the car.
TB: そのまま朝まで待つことにした．．．．．．
We decided to wait it out until morning.

P120
Mimi: ．．．．．
Mimi: あれっ．．．古澤くんは！？
Hey. . . . Where’s Furusawa?

Naoto: ．．．．．なんやて！？
What?!
Naoto: おーい古澤ーっ
HEYYY! FURUSAWA!
Mimi: 古澤くんーっ
Furusawaaa!

Naoto: どこにもおらんで．．．．．どこ行きよったんやあいつ．．．．．
He ain’t here. . . . So where the hell did he go?

P121
TB: そしてそれは午前１０時ごろのことだった
And then, around ten o’clock. . . .

Guy: おーい　大変だーーっ
Heyyy, somebody help!
Guy: 死体が打ち上げられてるぞーっ
A body washed up on the shore!

Naoto: ふ．．．古澤．．．．．．
F. . . Furusawa. . . .

P122
SFX: ピーポーピーポー
WEEE-OOO-WEEE-OOO
SFX: ザザザ．．．
FSSSSHHHH

Mimi: なんでこんなことになってしもたんやろ．．．．．
How could this happen?

Waitress: やっぱりこうなったのね
So this is how it turned out.
Waitress: ．．．．．．この海岸で昔　幼稚園児が波に呑まれて．．．．．
A long time ago, a group of preschool children got swallowed up in the waves.
Waitress: たくさんの子供が死んでるんです
Many children died.

P123
Waitress: 引率の保母さんも含めて大勢の犠牲者があの桟橋に引き上げられたの
Many of the victims were pulled up onto that dock, including their teacher.
Waitress: そしていまだに犠牲者の霊魂はこの海をさまよっているのよ
And even now, those victims’ spirits wander these waters.

Mimi: ．．．．．．

TB: 本当に不思議な女の子だった．．．．．
A true mystery of a girl. . . .
TB: その数日後
A few days later

Naoto: そういえば田中あの写真どないした？
Hey Tanaka, what ever happened to those pictures?

Tanaka: えっ．．．写真？
Huh? Pictures?

P124
Naoto: 海で撮った写真やがな．．．
Those photos you took at the beach.
Naoto: まだ現像してないんか？
Did you get ‘em developed?

Tanaka: あ．．．写真か．．．現像したよ．．．したけどな．．．．
Oh, the photos. Yeah, I developed ‘em.
Tanaka: 家にあるけど．．．．．ただなんていうか．．．
They’re at my place. It’s just. . .

Naoto: なんや．．．．．あの写真がどうかしたんか
What? Something happen to ‘em?

Tanaka: これやけど．．．．．
This is them.

Mimi: あっ！？
Ah!!

P125
Mimi: こ．．．これは．．．．．
It’s. . . .

P126
TB: そこに写っていたものは．．．
What appeared in the photo. . .

TB: 古澤くんにまとわりつくたくさんの幼い人影．．．．．．
. . . were the figures of countless young children, clinging to Furusawa.

Mimi: 直人．．．これは．．．これはきっと溺死した子供たちや．．．．．
Naoto. . . this must be those children who drowned.
Mimi: その霊が．．．古澤くんを海へ引きずり込んだんやないやろか．．．．．
Maybe their ghosts dragged him out to sea. . . .
Mimi: ．．．．．

Naoto: マジかいな．．．．．
Jesus. . . .
Naoto: おい　田中．．．．．ところであのバイトの女の子の写真は？
Tanaka, what about the pictures with that waitress girl?
Naoto: 一枚もないやん．．．ネガも切り取られてる
There’s not a single one here, and all the negatives are cut out.
Naoto: どないしたんや？
What gives?

Tanaka: あ．．．ああ．．．あれは俺がネガもろとも捨てた
Yeah. . . . I threw those out, with the negatives

Naoto: なんやて？なんでそんなことを．．．．
What? Why would you. . .

P127
Tanaka: き．．．訊くな！！思い出したくもないんや！！
DON’T ASK!! I don’t even want to think about it!!
Tanaka: あの写真だけは．．．．．！！
NOT THOSE PICTURES!!

Naoto: な．．．なんやて．．．
Wh. . . what the?

TB: 私たちはそれ以上田中くんを問いつめることが出来なかった
That was all we could get out of him.
TB: 古澤くんの恐ろしい写真は残しておいたというのに．．．
Even though he’d held onto those terrifying pictures of Furusawa. . . .
TB: あの女の子の写真だけは捨ててしまったというのだ．．．．
. . . . he’d thrown away every picture of that girl.
TB: 彼女を写した写真が一体どんな物だったのか．．．．．
Just what was in those pictures?
TB: 田中くんは今も口を閉ざしたままだ
Even now, Tanaka won’t say a thing about it.

P128
Title: ふたりぼっち
Alone With You

SFX: トポッ
splosh
SFX: コン
dong
SFX: カチャッ
chk

P129
SFX: ボッ
fffffwoom

P130


P131
Scream: ヒィィィィィィ
EEEYYYYAAAAHHH!!!
Scream: ヒィィィ
YAAAHHHH!!!

SFX: ドサッ
fwump

P132
Sign: 白いパン屋さん
The White Bakery

Mimi: ひさしぶりの実家や．．．．．．
Haven’t been here in a long time.
Mimi: ただいまー
Hellooo.

Hana: あ．．．ミミ姉ちゃんお帰り
Oh, hey Mimi. Welcome home.

P133
Mimi: あれ　その子どこの子？ハナの友だちにしては幼いな
Hey, whose kid is she? She’s too little to be one of your friends.

Hana: うんこの子恵ちゃんゆうてな
Uh-huh. This is Kei.
Hana: お父さんの知り合いの子なんやけど．．．
She belongs to someone dad knows.
Hana: 事情があって当分　うちであずかることになったそうや
Something came up with them so we have to look after her for awhile.
Hana: でもお父さんもお母さんもお店で忙しいやろ？
But dad and mom are both busy with the bakery, right?
Hana: せやから私が相手してやってんねん
So I have to pal around with her.
Hana: でも　この子くっついたまま離れへんの
But she’s sooo clingy.
Hana: 私　もういやになったわ
I’m sick of doing this.
Hana: 恵ちゃん　今度はミミ姉ちゃんに相手してもらい！！じゃ．．．さいなら
Kei, from now on Mimi will hang out with you. Catcha later.

Mimi: えっ！？
What?!
Mimi: ちょっとハナ！！
Hana, wait!!
Mimi: あっ．．．
Whoa.

P134
TB: 恵ちゃんはそれから私にしがみついて離れなくなった
After that she clung onto me and never let go.

Mimi: あのなお姉ちゃんトイレ行きたいねん
Hey now, I need to go to the bathroom.
Mimi: 外で待っててな
Wait out here, ‘k?

SFX: バタン
k-dum

Kei: ギャーーーーッ
WAAHHHHH!

Mimi: けったいな子やなあ．．．．
Weird kid.

P135
Mimi: お父さーん　お母さーん
Hey Dad, hey Mom.

Mom: なんやミミ！帰ってたんか
Mimi! You’re home.

Dad: お帰り
Welcome back.
Dad: 正月はずっと家におるんやろ？
Will you stick around for all of New Year’s?

Mimi: なあ　この子なんとかしてーな．．．
Um, could you guys do something about her?
Mimi: くっついて離れへんのや
She won’t let go of me.

Mom: あのな　ミミ今は店が新装開店したばかりでホンマに忙しいねん
Listen, Mimi, we just reopened this place after all that remodeling, so things are really busy.
Mom: 冬休みのあいだあんたその子の面倒見たってんか？
Would you please look after her over winter break?

Mimi: なんやて！？私かて忙しいし．．．
What?! I’m busy too, y’know!

Mom: なっ頼んだで！恩に着るわ
I’m begging you! I’ll owe ya one.

P136
Dad: ん？
Hm?
Dad: おい　ミミ！その子の顔汚れてるやんか
Hey Mimi, her face is all dirty!
Dad: そんなんで厨房に入ってこられたらかなわんで！
We can’t have her in the kitchen like that!

Mimi: えっ？
Huh?
Mimi: あれっホンマや．．．いつの間に．．．．
Oh, you’re right. When did that. . . .
Mimi: まっ黒やんどこで汚した？
It’s all black. Where’d you do that?
Mimi: しゃあないなあ．．．
Whatever.
Mimi: こっちへおいで拭いてあげるから．．．
Come on, I’ll clean you up.

Hana: あーっ誰やー！？
Ah! Who did this?!
Hana: 廊下汚したんは！？
Who got the hallway all filthy?!

Mom: どないしたハナ？
What’s the matter, Hana?

Hana: お母さん見てえな！！このへん　汚れて真っ黒や！！
Mom, look at this! It’s all filthy and black here!

P137
Hana: ホラ
See?

Mom: ホンマや．．．なんで汚れてんねやろ？
You’re right. . . . How’d this happen?
Mom: 足跡のようにも見えるな．．．まさか泥棒！？
It kinda looks like footprints. My god, is it a burglar?!

Hana: ちゃうって！きっと恵ちゃんが汚したんや！
No, I’ll bet Kei did this!
Hana: さっきも顔汚れてたし！
She’s the one with the dirty face!

Mom: ．．．．でも恵ちゃんの足跡にしては大きいやろ？
But these are too big to be her footprints, aren’t they?

Hana: いいや！！あの子に決まってる！！
Oh, so what?! Who else would’ve done this?!

Mimi: どないしたふたりとも？
Hey you two, what’s wrong?

Hana: あっお姉ちゃん
Oh, Mimi.

P138
Hana: ちょっとこれ見て！恵ちゃんの足跡やないの？！
Take a look at this! Aren’t these Kei’s footprints?!

Mimi: えっ？
Huh?
Mimi: ホンマか？恵ちゃん．．．
Really? Mimi: 足の裏見せてみい．．．
Kei, lemme see the bottoms of your feet.

Mimi: ．．．．ちゃうで恵ちゃんの足汚れてへんもん
No, her feet aren’t dirty.



Hana: えーっほんなら誰やっちゅうねん！？
What? Then who did this?!
Hana: 私らだって汚れてへんで！！
Our feet aren’t dirty either!

Mimi: ハナ！！恵ちゃんはずっと私といたんや
hana! Kei’s been with me the whole time.
Mimi: この子は汚すようなことしてへんよ
There’s no way she could’ve done this.

Hana: ．．．．．ふん！！確かにずっとお姉ちゃんにくっついてるもんな！！
Hmph!! Well, she sure has been tagging along with you the whole time.
Hana: 金魚のフンみたいに！！
Just like goldfish doo-doo!!

P139
Hana: あー　なんか腹立つわ！！
Grrr, you really tick me off!!
Hana: ミミ姉ちゃんは私のお姉ちゃんなんやで！！
Mimi’s my sister!!

Mom: ハナ！！
Hana!!
Mom: あんたいいかげんにしとき！！
You settle down!!
Mom: 頼むからこの子いじめんといてな．．．
Please don’t bully her, I’m asking you.
Mom: この子はかわいそうな子なんやで．．．．
This child deserves our pity.

Hana: えっ？
Huh?

Mom: ．．．．実はな恵ちゃんをあずかってるんは．．．．．
Actually, the reason we’re looking after her. . .
Mom: この子のお母さんが急に亡くなったからなんや
. . . is that her mother suddenly passed away.

Mom: この子の家では葬式やら何やらでごたごたしてるからそのあいだあずかることになったんや．．．
Her home is all astir what with the funeral and such, so we’re taking care of her ‘til things settle down.

Mom: この子はまだ　お母さんが死んだことを知らへんのや．．．ホンマにかわいそうな子なんや．．．．．
She doesn’t even know her mother died yet. The poor thing.

Both of them: ．．．．

TB: 結局足跡のことは．．．
As for the footprints. . . .
TB: そのままうやむやになった
The case was left unsolved.

P140
Mimi: なあ　恵ちゃん結局　一日じゅうお姉ちゃんにひっついていたなあ．．．．．
Gee, Kei, you really didn’t let go of me all day.
Mimi: なんでやの？ひとりでおられへんの？
Why? Can’t you be by yourself?

Kei: ．．．．．
Kei: ．．．そやかていつもとなりに．．．．．
Because she’s right next to me. . . .
Kei: くろいひとがいてるんやもん．．．．．
The ash person. . . . [note: the original text refers to the “ash person” as “kuroi hito”, or “black person”, but I changed it to avoid turning the entire story into an accidental comedy]

Mimi: えっ？
Huh?
Mimi: 黒い人？
“Ash person”?

Kei: そうや．．．．．くろいひと．．．．．いつもけいちゃんのとなりにくろいひとがいてるんや．．．．
Uh-huh. . . . The ash lady. . . . She’s always standing next to me. . . .

P141
Kei: そやからおねえちゃんからはなれたら．．．．
If I let go of you. . . .
Kei: そのひととふたりぼっちになってしまうもん！！
. . . . I’ll be alone with her!!

Mimi: 恵ちゃん安心し！
Kei, don’t worry!
Mimi: そんな黒い人なんてどこにもいてへんよ
There’s no “ask lady”.

Kei: いてるやん．．．となりにいてるやん．．．．．いてるやん．．．．
Yes there is. . . . She’s right here. Can’t you see her?

Mimi: 恵ちゃん気のせいやって！
Kei, it’s just your imagination!
Mimi: あっ
Ah!
Mimi: 恵ちゃん．．．あんた　また頬っぺた汚れてるやん
Kei, your cheek’s all dirty again.
Mimi: 一体いつの間に．．．．
When in the heck?

P142
Mimi: でも．．．変やな．．．この汚れ．．．．．
That’s weird. . . . This dirt. . . .
Mimi: なんか．．．手のように見えるな．．．．．
It kind of looks like a hand. . . .

Dad: ミミ．．．今日一日お疲れさんやったな
Mimi, thanks for helping out today.

Mimi: うん．．．あの子やっと寝たわ．．．
Uh-huh. She’s finally asleep.
Mimi: でも　ホンマ変なこやでェ
But it’s really strange.
Mimi: あの顔の汚れも変やけど．．．
Not just that dirt on her face. . . .
Mimi: なんかな．．．隣に黒い人がおるって泣くんや．．．．．
She was also crying about some “ash lady” she said was right next to her.

P143
Dad: ．．．．．なんやて
What did you say?
Dad: ミミ．．．それ本当か？
Mimi, is that true?

Mimi: ホンマや．．．さっき言うてたもん．．．
Yes. She was just telling me.

Both of them: ．．．．．

Mimi: なんや？ふたりとも黙りこくって
Why’d you guys get so quiet?
Mimi: 黒い人がどうかしたんか？
Do you know something about this?

Mom: あ．．．ああ．．．実はな．．．
Well. . . actually. . . .
Mom: あの子の母親のことなんやけど．．．．．．
About that girl’s mom. . . .
Mom: 実はあの子の母親．．．．
The truth is. . .
Mom: 焼身自殺やったんや．．．．．
. . . she died of self-immolation.
Mom: 発見されたときは．．．
When they found her. . .
Mom: すでに炭化して真っ黒やったそうや．．．．．
. . . she had already burned to ash.

Mimi: な．．．なんやて！？
Wh. . . what?!

P144
Mimi: まさか．．．恵ちゃんの言う黒い人って．．．
I don’t believe it. Then this “ash lady” is. . . .
Mimi: そんなバカな．．．そんなわけあるかいな！
That’s ridiculous. It couldn’t be!
Mimi: で．．．でも恵ちゃんは．．．．
B. . . but then again. . .
Mimi: お母さんが焼身自殺したこと知らへんはずなのに．．．
Kei doesn’t even know about her mother’s suicide.
Mimi: なんで黒い人なんて言い出したんやろ．．．．？
So why would she say that?

SFX: ギッ
creak

Mimi: ！！

P145


P146


P147
SFX: ギギギギギ
creeeek
SFX: パチッ
fwip

P148
SFX: ガバッ
whirl

Kei: ギャー
WAHHH!

SFX: ギ．．．ギシッ
cree creeee
SFX: ギシッ
creeeek
SFX: ギシ　ギシ
creeeek crack
SFX: ギシッ
CRACK

P149
SFX: ギシッ　ギシッ
CRACK CRACK

P150
Mimi: キャーッ
YAHHH!
Mimi: 出たああ！！
She’s here!!

Dad: どないしたんやミミ！？
Mimi! What happened?!

Mimi: おった．．．やっぱりおったんや！！
She was there! She really was!!
Mimi: 黒い人はホンマにおったんや！！
The ash lady really exists!!

Dad: なんやて！？どこに！？
What?! Where?!

Mimi: 私の部屋や！！
In my room!!
Mimi: ベッドに横たわってたんや！！
She was lying in my bed!!

Dad: ．．．．．なんや．．．
What the?
Dad: どこにもおらんやんか
I don’t see anyone.

P151
Dad: ミミ．．．気のせいやろ？
Mimi, surely you imagined it.

Mimi: ホンマに見たんや！！
No, I really saw her!!

SFX: ギュッ
squeeze

Kei: いてるで．．．
She’s. . .
Kei: いまもいてるで．．．．
She’s still here.

Mimi: 恵ちゃん見えるんか？
Kei, you can see her?
Mimi: どこにいてるの？！
Where is she?

Kei: けいちゃんの．．．
She’s. . . .
Kei: すぐうしろにいてるやん．．．．．
. . . right behind me.

Mimi: やっぱり今もいてるんや．．．．
She’s still here.
Mimi: もう見えなくなってしもたけど．．．．．でもさっきは確かに私にも見えたもん
I can’t see her anymore, but I definitely saw her before.

Mom: あっ
Oh, my!
Mom: ミミ．．．その子の顔また汚れてるぞ
Mimi, her face is dirty again.

Mimi: えっ！？．．．．あっ．．．
What?! Whoa. . .

P152
Mimi: ．．．．．これは母親がこの子の涙を拭うときにつく汚れなんや
It’s from where her mother tried to wipe away her tears.
Mimi: わかったやろ？今も私らの横に黒い人がおるんやで！
Do you get it now? That ash lady is right here with us!
Mimi: なんとかしてーなお父さん！
Dad, do something!
Mimi: 私　もうこの子の面倒見きれへんで！
I can’t deal with this girl on my own!

Dad: それがな．．．先方からは初七日まで預かってほしいと頼まれとんのや
But, we’ve agreed to look after her for the whole week.
Dad: それまで我慢してくれんか？
Can’t you just tough it out?

Mimi: 冗談やない！！そんなに待てんわ！！
You’ve gotta be joking!! I can’t wait that long!!

Dad: ．．．．．しゃあないな　ほんなら
Mm, what to do?
Dad: 知り合いの神主にお祓いしてもらおか．．．．
I know a Shintô priest. Maybe we can have him do an exorcism.

Mom: お祓いって．．．．
An exorcism?
Mom: 先方に相談もせんと勝手にお祓いなんてしてええの？
Is it really okay to do that without consulting her family?

Dad: しゃあないやろ．．．第一先方に相談するゆうたってどう言えばええねん？
What else can we do? And what would we tell them anyway?
Dad: お宅の奥さんが真っ黒になって娘さんに取り憑いてますなんて言えるか？
“The lady of your household has gone ash black and won’t stop haunting your daughter”?

P153
TB: 翌日我が家に神主さんがやってきた
The priest came over the next day.

Exorcist: ム！！確かにいてはりますな！
Goodness!! There’s no doubt about it!!
Exorcist: 真っ黒い人が少女の隣に
The ashen woman is right there by the girl.

Dad: 神主さん．．．．
Sir. . .
Dad: なんとかひとつお祓いを．．．．
Would you find it in your heart to perform an exorcism?

Exorcist: できるかどうかわかりまへんが．．．．．
Well, I don’t know whether or not I can do it, but. . .
Exorcist: やるだけやってみまひョ
It’s certainly worth a try.

P154
Exorcist: ふ〜〜〜〜〜ん！！
HURRR!!!!

SFX: シャッ　シャッ
shaka shaka

TB: そしてお祓いが始まった
And so the exorcism began.

Exorcist: 祓い給え！！
Begone!!
Exorcist: 清め給え！！
Be purified!!
Exorcist: 祓い給え！！
Begone!!
Exorcist: 清め給え！！
Be purified!!

P155
Exorcist: やあっ
Hyah!

SFX: ガン！
whud
SFX: ゴッ
d-doom

Dad: な．．．なんや？
W. . . what?
Dad: 何が起きたんや？
What’s happening?

Exorcist: 苦しんでまんねん！！
It’s in pain!!
Exorcist: まがいてまんねん！！
It’s writhing about!!

P156
Exorcist: 怨霊退散
Lay thyself down!
Exorcist: しとくんなはれ！！
Lay thyself to rest!!

SFX: ゴッ
doom
SFX: ゴゴッ
d-doom
SFX: ガン
BAM

P157
SFX: ゴッ
doom

Hana: きゃあ怖い！！
Oh my god, I’m scared!!

Exorcist: 苦しんでまんねん！！熱がってまんねん！！
It’s in pain!! It’s burning up!!
Exorcist: 熱うてたまらず走りまわってんねん！！
It’s running frantically, for the heat is so unbearable!!

SFX: ガッ　ガッ　ゴッ
toom toom toom

P158
Scream: ヒィィィィィィ
EEEEEEEE

P159
Exorcist: もがきなはれ！！走りなはれ！！
Yes!! Writhe and run about!!
Exorcist: その苦しみが過ぎ去ったあとに御霊に平穏が訪れるでっしゃろ！！
Out of your anguish will come peace for your soul!!

SFX: ゴッ　ガッ
TOOM TOOM

P160
TB: ５時間に及ぶ苦闘の末
He waged his fierce battle for five whole hours.
TB: ようやくお祓いは終わったが
And finally, the exorcism was over.
TB: あとには．．．．．
Afterwards. . . .
TB: 家じゅういたるところに荒々しい黒い炭の擦り跡が
The entire house was covered from corner to corner in wild, ashen scratch marks.
TB: 激しい苦闘を物語る痕跡として残った
Remaining evidence of the ferocious struggle.

P161
Dad: ああ．．．なんちゅうこっちゃ．．．．．．
Oh, dear lord. . . .
Dad: 新装開店したばかりやゆうのに．．．．．しばらくは営業停止や．．．．
We just reopened this place. . . . Guess we’ll be closed for awhile. Again.


TB: 恵ちゃんは母親の初なのかを過ぎたころ家に帰って行ったが．．．．
When the week was up, Kei returned to her home.
TB: その後すっかり明るい少女に成長したという
They say she matured into quite the lovely young girl.


P162
Title: 朱の円
The Scarlet Circle

P163
TB: それは私と直人の口論から始まった
It began with an argument between Naoto and me.

Mimi: なんべん言うたらわかるんや幽霊は絶対いてるって！！
Why can’t you just face it?! Ghosts are real!!

Naoto: しつこいな！！ミミ　おるわけないっちゅうの
Why can’t you just drop it?! They don’t exist.

Mimi: なんで！？
Why?!
Mimi: 直人かて今まで何度も怖い目に遭うてきたやん！！
How can you say that after all you’ve seen with your own eyes?!

Naoto: そやから全部気のせいや言うてんのや！！
We were just imagining things all those times!!
Naoto: そうやそうや思うたら木陰も人の顔に見える！！
Even trees start looking like faces if you think they do!!
Naoto: 特にお前みたいなタイプは何でも幽霊のせいにしよるねん！！
And you’re exactly the type of girl who likes to blame everything on ghosts!!

Mimi: なんやて！？失礼な！！このわからずや！！
Excuse me?! God, you’re such an asshole! You don’t know anything!

Naoto: わからずやはどっちや！！
You should talk!!

P164
Mimi: もうええわ！！あんたとはもう絶交や！！
Well you know what? I’m through with you!!
Mimi: 行こ美沙！！
Misa, let’s go!!

Naoto: 勝ってにせえ
Yeah, go on!!
Naoto: こっちから絶交じゃアホ！！
And I’m through with you, bitch!!

Misa: ちょっとミミ．．．．ええの？絶交なんて．．．．
Um, Mimi? Don’t you think that was a little. . .

Mimi: かまへん！！もうあんな男！！
I don’t care!! He’s such a bastard!!
Mimi: 幽霊とかあの世は絶対存在してるんや！！
I know those things exist!!
Mimi: そのお陰で今までどんだけ私が怖い目に遭うてきたと思うてんのや！！
Do you have any idea how many terrifying things I’ve seen?!
Mimi: ．．．そうやあんたはどっちやと思うの？美沙
What do you think, Misa?

Misa: えっ．．．私？．．．私は．．．
Uh, me? Well, I. . .
Misa: ．．．．信じてるよ
I believe in them.
Misa: そういうことは絶対ある！！
I’m sure those things exist!!

Mimi: そ．．．．．そうやろ！？やっぱりあんたは親友や！！
Y. . . Yeah, right? I knew you were a true friend!

P165
Misa: ．．．なんでか言うたらなミミ．．．．．
There’s a reason I believe in that stuff, Mimi.

Misa: 最近私の身のまわりでも起きたんよ．．．．．
Things have been happening at home lately.
Misa: 奇妙なことが
Strange things.

Mimi: えっ！？ホンマ！？
What?! Seriously?!

Misa: ホンマや．．．．
Seriously.
Misa: そうや．．．あんたに見せたいものがあるんや
Come to think of it, there’s something I wanna show you.

Mimi: えっ．．．なに？
Huh? What is it?

Misa: いいからついてきて！！
Just come with me!!
Misa: ここや
Here we are.

P166
Misa: ．．．ここは私の祖父母と伯父が住んでた家なんやけど．．．
This place belonged to my grandparents and uncle.
Misa: 取り壊しの途中やったんや．．．．ところが今はわけあって中断してるんよ
It was being demolished, but they stopped halfway.

Mimi: なんで？
Why?

Misa: うん．．．取り壊し中に台所の地下から妙な物が見つかってな．．．．
Well, when they were tearing the place apart, they found something weird under the kitchen.

Mimi: 妙なもの？
Something weird?

Misa: こっちや．．．来てみ
Over here. C’mon.
Misa: ここや．．．
This is it.

P167
Misa: 地下貯蔵庫の下で突然穴が開いてな数メートル下に空間が見つかったんや
The storage cellar caved in and they found a room several feet underneath.
Misa: 今は土砂を取り除いて蓋してあるけどな．．．
Now they’ve cleared away all the dirt and put a lid on it.

Mimi: 空間？．．．．
A room?

Misa: 今から入ってみん？案内するよ
Wanna go down there? I’ll show you around.

Mimi: ええっ！？
Excuse me?!

Misa: 大丈夫やって！懐中電灯もあるし
Oh, it’s fine! I’ve got a flashlight.
Misa: 縄バシゴやから気いつけてな
It’s only a rope ladder so watch your step.

SFX: ガッ
ktunk

P168
Misa: こん中や．．．
In here.
Misa: 入るで．．．．
In we go.

Mimi: え．．．うん．．．
Um. . . okay.

SFX: ガチッ
click

P169


P170
Mimi: ここは．．．部屋みたいやな．．．下は畳やん
Wow, it really is a room. The floor’s even matted.

Misa: そうや．．．相当古いものやで．．．一体誰かこんな部屋作ったんか．．．
Yup. Looks pretty old, too. I wonder who built this place?
Misa: 奇妙なのはこの部屋に出入り口が見あたらへんことや．．．
The weird thing is, this room doesn’t have any entrance or exit.
Misa: あれは今回土砂が崩れてできた穴やしな．．．
That hole was formed from the cave-in.
Misa: つまりここは．．．
So that means. . .
Misa: 誰も出入りでけへん地下室なんや
This was a completely impenetrable cellar.
Misa: あとこれ見て
And check this out.
Misa: 西側の壁に．．．
On the Western wall

Mimi: なに？この朱色で描かれた円は．．．．
What’s this red circle supposed to be?

Misa: わからん．．．
I’m not sure.
Misa: そやけどこの円にはなにか意味があると思うわ
But I think it holds some significance.

P171
Misa: なんにもない部屋の中で唯一．．．
It’s the only thing in this room.
Misa: この部屋の存在の意味を解く鍵のように思えるんや
Maybe it’s the key to figuring out what this room was for.

Misa: 実はミミにこの部屋を見せたんは．．．
To be honest. . .
Misa: 私の話を聞いてほしかったからや．．．あんた　あの世を信じてるやろ？
. . . I’m showing you this because I needed someone to talk to. Do you. . . believe in an afterlife?
Misa: これから話すのは多分そんな話や．．．．それと
I think what I’m about to tell you might have to do with that.
Misa: おそらくこの部屋が関係してるはずなんや
And I think this room is connected.
Misa: ．．．伯父がこの家を建て替えようとしたんは老朽化のせいや
My uncle wanted to tear this place down because it was dilapidated.
Misa: そこで伯父は両親．．．つまり私の祖父母に家の取り壊しを申し出た
So he asked his parents. . . well, my grandma and grampa, about having the place demolished.
Misa: そやけど祖父は頑として許さへんかった
But my grampa wouldn’t let him.
Misa: 祖父に撮っては思い入れのある家やったんやろ
I’ll bet this house was pretty sentimental to him.

P172
Misa: 結局伯父は取り壊しを強行したんやけどな．．．
Eventually my uncle forced them to do it though.
Misa: その直後や
That’s when things started happening.
Misa: 台所の地下からこの部屋が発見されたんは．．．
That’s when they found this room under the kitchen.

Gramps: この家はわしのじいさんのころからある家やけど．．．
This house has been around since my grandpappy’s day.
Gramps: こないな地下室があったなんて知らへんかったわ．．．
But I never knew there was a room under there.
Gramps: うちの先祖が作ったんやろか？
Did my ancestors build this place?
Gramps: せやけどわしはそんな話聞いたことあらへんで！！
Nobody ever told me!!
Gramps: ．．．．．この日の丸のようなもん見てみ．．．もしかするとこれは神様を祀ったもんかも知れんな！！
See this sun-lookin’ thing? Maybe it’s a shrine to the gods!!

P173
Gramps: そうや！！ここは神聖な部屋なんや！！
By god, this room is sacred!!
Gramps: 取り壊すなんてもってのほかや！！
And you want to tear it down?! For shame!!

Misa: 祖父はそのまま地下室に閉じこもってしもうた
And then my grampa just locked himself down here.

Gram-gram: おじいさんええかげん出てき！！
Grampa, come out from there now, y’hear?!

Uncle: お袋ほっとけ！！そのうち出てきよるわ！！
Let ‘im be, ma!! He’ll come outta there eventually!!

Misa: ところが祖父はそれっきり出てけえへんかったんや
But he never came out.
Misa: 祖父は忽然と姿を消してしもうた
He just up and disappeared.
Misa: 警察に捜索願い出して町中捜したんやけど見つからんかった．．．．
They got the police to call out a search, but he wasn’t found anywhere in town.
Misa: まるで神隠しや．．．．
It’s like he was just spirited away.
Misa: ところがな．．．それで終わりやなかったんや
But it didn’t end there.
Misa: その数日後にはなんと．．．．．
A few days later. . .
Misa: 今度は祖母が消えてしもうたんや！！
My grandma disappeared too!!

P174
Misa: 祖母が失踪した数日後私は伯父に初めてここを案内された
A few days after that, my uncle finally showed me this place.

Uncle: 美沙．．．これやこの朱の円が．．．
Misa. . . This is it. This red circle.
Uncle: 気のせいか知らんが変化してるように思うんや
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like it’s changing.
Uncle: 最初見たときは色褪せた朱色やったんや
The first time I saw it it was more of a pale color
Uncle: ところごだんだん色が濃くなってきてる．．．
But it’s been getting darker and darker.
Uncle: そうや．．．．．じいさんが消えばあさんが消え．．．．そのたびに
Yeah. . . . Gramps disappeared, then Ma. . . . It’s like every time someone disappears. . .
Uncle: 朱色が濃く赤々と変化してきてるようなんや
The red gets darker and darker.
Uncle: 俺はな．．．美沙 ふたりはこの部屋で消えてしもうたんやないかと思う
Listen, Misa. . . . I think maybe they vanished inside this very room.
Uncle: 二人の失踪にこの部屋が関係してrと思うんや
This room has something to do with their disappearance
Uncle: そやからな．．．俺はそれを確かめるつもりなんや．．．．
And I intend to find out what.

P175
Misa: 伯父はそう言い残して数日後行方不明になってしもた
And then a few days later, he went missing too.

Mimi: えっ．．．
God. . .

Misa: 私は伯父もここで姿を消したんやと思う．．．
I think he vanished inside this room too.
Misa: そういえば確かに．．．
Come to think of it. . . .
Misa: 私がこの前見たときより色が濃くなってるような気がするわ
It does look darker than the last time I saw it.

Mimi: ホ．．．ホンマ？
R. . . really?

Misa: 私は．．．３人の失踪がこの円に関係してると思う．．．
I’ll bet this circle has to do with their disappearance.
Misa: 私にはこの朱の円があの世かあるいは．．．
Like maybe it’s a window into the underworld, or. . .
Misa: どこか別の世界に通じる窓になってるような気がするんや
. . . or some other world, anyway.

P176
Mimi: な．．．なんや気味悪いわ
C. . . creepy.
Mimi: 美沙．．．もう出ようよ
Misa, let’s get out of here.

Misa: でもな．．．この話誰も信じてくれへんのや
The thing is, nobody will believe me.
Misa: 警察も．．．
Not even the police. . . .

Mimi: 私は信じるで！！
I believe you!!

Misa: うん．．．そやけど大抵の人は直人さんと同じような反応や
Yeah. But most people are just like Naoto.

Mimi: そうやな．．．特に直人のアホはバカにして笑うやろな
Yeah, I’ll bet that bastard would be having a good laugh about this.

Misa: 私．．．なんとかして謎を解きたいわ．．．
I. . . I want to solve this mystery.
Misa: どうしたら消えた３人が帰ってくるんか．．．
I wanna get my family back.

P177
TB: 数日後
A few days later

SFX: チラッ
glance
SFX: プィ
fwip

Misa: ．．．なあミミ．．．
Um, Mimi?

Mimi: なに？美沙
Yeah?

Misa: 実は私　昨日ひとりで地下室へ行ってみたんやけどな．．．
Actually, I went back into the underground room yesterday by myself.

Mimi: なんやて？ひとりで？危ないで
What? You went alone? That’s so dangerous!

P178
Misa: わかってる．．．でもなある発見をしたんや！もしかしたら謎が解けるかもしれへんで！
I know. But I found something! It might be the solution to our mystery!

Mimi: ホンマ！？どんな発見！？
Really?! What’d you find?!

Misa: 口で説明するより現場へ行った方が早いよ！
It’s easier if I just show you.

Mimi: うん．．．わかった
Okay, sure.

Misa: ミミあれや
There it is, Mimi.
Misa: ここからでも見えるで
You can see it from here.

Mimi: えっ
Er. . .
Mimi: どこ？
Where?

P179
SFX: ドン！
whap

Mimi: あああ
AHHH!!

SFX: ドシン
wh-krak

Mimi: ううう．．．
Owww

P180
Misa: あんたの携帯もらってくわ．．．助けを呼ばれたら困るしなあ
I’m gonna take your phone. Can’t have you calling for help.

Mimi: 美．．．美沙あんた一体．．．どうしたっていうんや！？
Mi. . . Misa, what are you. . . . What’s going on?!?

Misa: ミミ．．．
Mimi. . .
Misa: 堪忍な．．．．．．
Sorry. . . .
Misa: 謎を解く発見っていうのは嘘や．．．
I didn’t really find any clues.
Misa: あんたをここへ連れてくる口実．．．
I just said that so you’d come here.
Misa: でも祖父母と叔父が消えたんは嘘やないで
But my family really did disappear.

P181
Misa: ３人はこの中で消えてしもたと私は確信してる
I’m certain they disappeared down there.
Misa: そやから私はついでにあんたにも消えてもらおと思いたったんや！
So I thought I might have you disappear too, since we’re kind of on a roll.

Mimi: な．．．なんで．．．
Wh. . . Why?!
Mimi: なんでやの！？
Why are you doing this?!

Misa: ほなさいなら
Bye-bye now.

SFX: バタン
k-tunk

Mimi: 美沙！！
MISA!!
Mimi: 美沙！！
MISA!!

P182
Naoto: 美沙ちゃん
So, Misa.
Naoto: 俺に用ってなに？
What was it you wanted?

Misa: あのな．．．言いにくいんやけど．．．
Well, it’s kind of hard to say, but. . .
Misa: ミミのことなんやけどな．．．
It’s about Mimi.

Naoto: ミミな．．．
Y’see. . .

Misa: 直人さんとは別れたいって言うてたよ
She said she wants to break up with you.
Misa: でな．．．今こんなこと言うのもなんやけど．．．．
And, um. . . Maybe it’s too soon to tell you, but, um. . .
Misa: 私．．．前から直人さんのこと好きやったんよ．．．．．
I’ve always liked you.
Misa: 直人さんは私のこと．．．
Naoto. . .
Misa: どない思うてる？
What do you think of me?

Naoto: ．．．．．

P183
Mimi: はあ
Hah
Mimi: はあ
Hah
Mimi: はあ
Hah
Mimi: う．．．う．．．．ん　あかん．．．届かん．．．
Hrk. . . Rrrr. . . No, I can’t reach. . .
Mimi: ！！

P184
Mimi: へ．．．変や．．．あんなに大きかったか！？いや．．．そんなはずはない！！
Oh my god, weird. . . . Was it that big before?! No, it definitely wasn’t!
Mimi: さっきはもっとちいさかった．．．．
It was way smaller just a minute ago.
Mimi: そんなアホな．．．
What the hell?

P185
Mimi: キャ〜〜〜ッ
EYAAAAAHHH!!!

P186
Naoto: はっ！？
Wha?!

Misa: ？
Misa: ん？どないした直人さん
Hm? Naoto, what’s wrong?

Naoto: ．．．．
Naoto: いや．．．なんでもない．．．
No. . . nothing.
Naoto: そうや．．．．
Heh.
Naoto: 気のせいや．．．
Just my imagination.

Mimi: ひいい
EEEE!

P187


P188
Mimi: 誰か助けてっ
Somebody help me!
Mimi: 助けて〜〜〜っ！！
HELLLLP!!
Mimi: 直人〜〜〜〜っ！！
Naotoooo!!!

P189
SFX: ガタッ
k-tunk

Naoto: ミミ！！
Mimi!!
Naoto: 早く！！
Quick!!
Naoto: 俺の手につかまれっ！！
Grab my hand!!

Mimi: な．．．直人！！
N. . . Naoto!!

Naoto: ミミ．．．大丈夫かっ！？
Mimi. . . . You okay?!

P190
Mimi: 直人．．．赤い円．．．赤い円が！！
Naoto, the red circle. . . it’s. . . !!

Naoto: ミミ！！落ちつけもう大丈夫や
Settle down, Mimi, you’re okay now.
Naoto: しかしなんでこんなところにおったんやミミ！？
But what the hell were you doing down there?!

Mimi: なっ．．．直人こそなんでこの場所がわかったん！？
How did you know where I was?!

Naoto: ．．．俺にもようわからん．．．ただお前の声が聞こえたような気がしてな．．．　気のせいやと思ったけど．．．そやけど
I’m not really sure. I just felt like I heard your voice, and. . . well, I thought it was just my imagination, but. . .
Naoto: 自分でもわけわからんうちに声のした方へ走りだしてたんや．．．そしたらここに．．．．．．これは一体どういうことなんやろな？
Well, I just started running toward the voice until I ended up here. What the hell is this place?
Naoto: とにかく上へあがろ．．．登れるか？
Actually, let’s just get out of here. Can you climb up?

Mimi: う．．．うん．．．
Uh. . . uh-huh.
Mimi: はっ！！
Ah!!

P191
Mimi: み．．．美沙．．．
M. . . Misa. . .

TB: そこには呆然と立ちつくす美沙の姿があった．．．．．私はなにも言えず彼女を残してその場を去った
There stood Misa, in a daze. With no words left to say, Naoto and I left her there.
TB: それっきり美沙の姿を見た者はいない．．．．．
Nobody ever saw her again after that.

TB: 彼女は現在も行方不明のままなのだ
She’s still missing today.
TB: そしてあの地下室は．．．
As for that underground room. . .
TB: 廃屋とともに取り壊され土砂で埋められてしまった
It was demolished and buried along with everything else.

P192


P193
Text: あとがき
Afterword
Ito: このたび「新耳袋」（木原浩勝　中山市郎　著メディアファクトリー刊）を原作として．．．
The preceding work was based on stories from “Shin-Mimi-Bukuro” (Kihara Hirokatsu/Nakayama Ichiriô/Media Factory).
Ito: 漫画化するにあたり担当編集者を通して原作の木原さんから．．．
In turning them into a comic, I had to have my editor-in-chief contact Mr. Kihara.
Ito: 「どのようにアレンジしてもかまわない」とういお言葉をちょうだいしました
We got him to give me permission to arrange the stories however I wanted.
Ito: そして「キャッチーな女の子を主役に」という担当編集者の意向もあり．．．
Meanwhile my editor-in-chief was of the opinion that I ought to incorporate a charming female protagonist.
Ito: 結果的に原作を大きくいじってしまうことになりました
Hence, many liberties were taken with the original work.

Mimi: それほどキャッチーでもなかった？
Whattaya mean I wasn’t that charming?

Ito: 元来　調子者の私はいささか自由にやりすぎた点もあり反省しております．．．
And I must admit I get easily carried away, and I’ve since reflected deeply on my overzealousness.
Ito: さて　ご存知の通り原作「新耳袋」では様々な実話が語られます
Now, as you know, “Shin-Mimi-Bukuro” is a great collection of true tales.
Ito: 特に私が好きなのは謎めいたまま終わる話．．．今回　漫画化した中では地下室のお話がその代表ですが．．．
Personally, I’m partial to the ones that end with unresolved mysteries. The story of the underground room that I’ve drawn in this very manga, for instance.

P194
Ito: 第四夜の「山の牧場」などもぞくぞくするほど好きです
I also liked the “Mountain Farm” story from the Fourth Night [reference to the original work, presumably] so much it gave me chills.
Ito: 原作者の方が目撃した山の中の奇妙な建物に関するお話．．．．
It’s about a strange building the author found in the mountains.
Ito: それから第四夜の「二階の部屋」もいいですね
I also enjoyed “Room on the Second Floor”, also from the Fourth Night.
Ito: Tさんの住んでいる古い家の二階が　階段が塞がれていて上がることができない
It’s about a character, T-san, who lives in an old house where the second floor staircase is sealed off so you can’t go up.
Ito: 数年後　改築時に初めて上がってみると．．．
Then, years later he renovates the place and goes upstairs for the first time.
Ito: 以前住んでいた人々の形跡がそのまま残っていたというお話
He finds that the remains of the previous residents are still lying around.
Ito: 実は私が子どものころ住んでいた家の二階の半分が物置でめったに出入りもせず雨戸も閉めきり．．．
Actually, the second floor of my childhood home was mostly used for storage and we rarely went up there.
Ito: 私にとっては異空間だったのでこのお話には妙に感応しました
It was always a mysterious place to me, so this story affected me greatly.
Ito: そんなわけで．．．
Anyway. . .
Ito: このへんでさようなら．．．
That’s it for me.